Today is March 30th and we are in the middle of a pandemic. Everywhere you turn, someone is talking about the Coronavirus. The real tragedy to me, is the fear that has gripped the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!

But a better festival for today is to celebrate Ryan’s birthday! In 2009, when he was 16yrs old, he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. We were surprised to find a mass located behind his nose.

The treatment instructions included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Ryan decided he would have the surgery, but said, “NO” to chemo or radiation. His grandmother went through adverse effects, during her treatments. He didn’t want any part of that.

The team of doctors did not agree with Ryan’s choices of no chemo or radiation, fearing for his life. With extreme, sternness the doctor pointed his finger in Ryan’s face and said, “if you do not have chemo and radiation, you will be dead within 2 year!” I was shocked at the boldness of this doctor.

FEAR IS A KILLER

I was angry at his brashness, but never once succumbed to fear. We walked out of the room and Ryan said, “don’t worry, Mom. He obviously doesn’t know God.” At his words, my annoyance immediately faded. I replied, “well Ryan, you are absolutely correct.”

The meeting that day encouraged me to do my own research. It is always important to be an informed patient and it helps to make the best possible decisions for one’s self and care. I found that no matter the treatment options, the prognosis was approximately 2yrs and that was being generous.

The Lord whispered in my spirit ever so sweetly, HE asked me, “who’s report will you believe?” The passage of scripture from Isaiah 53, that I memorized at 10 years old, welled up inside me. From deep within my spirit, I said out loud, “Your report, Lord and it says Ryan is healed!” There was no other alternative.

That day, I made a large banner to put up in our home. It flowed around the living room and was bold enough to be the first thing noticed upon walking through the front door. The headline read:

I SHALL NOT DIE, BUT LIVE, AND DECLARE THE WORKS OF THE LORD! —– PSALM 118:17

I refused to give in to fear! I told Brad that I wanted him to help me police our home! There was to be NOTHING negative in regards to this diagnosis and giving up was NEVER an option.

Ryan did have the surgery and there were a couple of hurdles to overcome regarding the surgical procedure. The team of doctors continued to voice their concerns, but chemo and radiation remained out of the question. After my exploration of the prognosis, I decided that Ryan was capable of making an adult choice for himself and I would stand by his preferences.

Fast forward to today, 11 years later and in the middle of a pandemic, we are still celebrating the goodness of God! We are passionate that HE is still the healer! The Bible says that “the thief (the devil) comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I (Jesus) have come to give life more abundantly and filled to the full!” (John 10:10)

The words FEAR NOT are mentioned in the Bible over 90 times. Jesus knew that fear was real, but wanted to keep reminding us to put our trust in Him. Jesus heals cancer and coronavirus!

Today I am flying to Denver, Colorado to attend a class. My career requires continuous training and the company that I work for is big on investing in people.

I was up very late a couple of weeks ago. I had decided to watch a couple of videos with my dad (which didn’t happen, he had sleeping on the brain) and then decided to read. Brad had to get up super early, so I was reluctant to go to bed for dread of waking him.

At the beginning of 2019, our family started a quest to encourage dream building and goal achievements. One of mine was to be a Life Coach and another was to be a Conference Speaker. I didn’t know exactly what I might speak about at the time.

We created vision boards (if you don’t have one or don’t even know what one is, you need to know) and this is on it!

As I was flipping through my Kindle app, I caught a glimpse of what today meant. Since I am attending training to be a certified instructor, one of the requirements is a presentation. It had to be something I was passionate about.

THE SEARCH WAS ON

I was at a loss. I searched deep. Brad says there isn’t much that gets me excited, because I am not the talker that he is.

Finally! It hit me! I love it when people ask me about my weight loss journey and how I got there. As many of you already know, keto was my way to progress. I have learned so much, but yet so little!

I have also discovered in the past couple of months, just how vehemently I want others to succeed. This is something I have always known, but has really come to the forefront.

So today, I want to challenge you to dream big! Set goals! Write them down and make them plain. Keep the intentions close.

God will get you there and it will usually happen in an unexpected way!

It is no secret that I am a Christian. I always want to be more like Jesus, however, many days I simply fail. But when we fall, we get back up.

Plenty of times, I have not displayed the best of behaviors. Oh darn that humanity! I am a very blunt person, sometimes to a flaw, but I am working on it.

It’s funny to me, most of the occasions that I have been accused of not being a Christian is when I was calling out someone’s bad behavior. They want to say, “well Jesus wouldn’t do such and such”. But, being Christ-like, doesn’t mean getting walked on.

I have also heard people say, “well Jesus said to turn the other cheek”.The issue here is when the Bible is taken out of context. Yes Jesus did say that, but he was teaching about revenge and the attitude behind it.

It’s a heart issue. Jesus said in Luke 6 that what you say, flows from what is in your heart.

People want to fuss about gun control and I have heard everything. But even still, the guns aren’t the problem. A gun is nothing more than a tool, just like a hammer.

A hammer can’t jump up, swing, and smash your hand. However, if you don’t have a good grip on it, you might just miss the nail.

Have you ever worked night shift? I have for many years. Now I work day shift, which sometimes progresses into the night.

I have been off work for several days, actually a few weeks, and it has been wonderful! It has been very refreshing, although I have no idea what I am going to do when that day comes. You know the one that says it’s time to go back to work?

It will be ok, because I think I am ready to get back into the groove. I don’t want it to go back to a grind.

Anyway, tonight is an all night event for me. I am attempting to stay awake, because Brad is asleep and I don’t want to wake him. Tomorrow/today is SUPER TUESDAY and he is a precinct judge. This means he will be working the election polls.

No worries, I already voted. So sleeping will be on my list of things to do later.

But I want to encourage you to get out there and make your voice heard! Voting is important!

The Lord has been putting on my heart the importance of prayer and being specific. Many times I find myself in situations where I don’t know what to pray for a person. Almost every single time, I realize that the following scripture applies. So I pray the Word.

It is impossible to go wrong when praying the Word of God! If you find yourself in this same dilemma, I challenge you to see how this fits for yourself.

Pray this……

Father God, I thank you for (insert your specific person’s name here), and I pray that You grant them a spirit of wisdom and revelation of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of Jesus. Flood their heart with light, that they may know and understand the hope to which You have called them and how rich Your glorious inheritance is. May they come to know and understand what is the immeasurable, unlimited, and surpassing greatness of Your power in and for us who believe! In Jesus name!

It’s been a few weeks and we are in full blown vacation mode! Have you ever been close to that “day”, ready for those designated days off and just – BAM! – your mind is mush? Or at the very least that is the way it feels.

I need a little angel to run around with me to make sure everything gets accomplished accordingly or a note with step by step instructions, that God-forbid, I would have to remember to actually read.

This is how the end of my January month plays out and has been for the last 10+ years and wouldn’t you know it?! We are there again! It is that time of year!

February is right around the corner! And what that means for us, is that annual family vacation time! I was out with the girls and Dalton last night and we were talking about how we get in that mindset – January is here and we all start talking it up. Then the chatter fades, but only for a moment.

So today, the countdown begins as there are SO many things that must be accomplished before checking out!